NASHUA, New Hampshire — BAE Systems has been awarded a contract from Lockheed Martin for the production and delivery of additional electronic warfare (EW) systems for Lot 15, Lot 16 long lead, sustainment spares and retro fit kits for the 5th Generation F-35 Lightning II, providing advanced situational awareness and threat response capabilities that support critical missions in contested airspace, the company said in a Sept. 14 release. 

“Our goal is to deliver capabilities that provide warfighters with a distinct advantage on the battlefield,” said Deborah Norton, vice president of F-35 Solutions at BAE Systems. “This contract underscores our partnership with Lockheed Martin and our collective commitment to deliver affordable, sustainable, and world-class electronic warfare systems to combat evolving threats.” 

The contract follows BAE Systems’ production and delivery of more than 500 EW systems for the F-35 as a key system partner, matching Lockheed Martin’s airframe production. BAE Systems supports all stages of the product’s lifecycle, from development and production to sustainment. The company is actively designing and developing new capabilities to enhance the system’s offensive and defensive capabilities and maintains its readiness for warfighters under a performance-based logistics sustainability contract. 

BAE Systems is committed to delivering affordable EW systems to its customers with speed and agility. The company has strategically invested in state-of-the-art manufacturing, workforce development, and supply chain excellence to ensure that advanced systems are delivered to meet urgent customer needs. 

BAE Systems’ engineers have a deep understanding of the electronic warfare environment and the challenging conditions our customers face. The company continues to build on decades of experience designing, qualifying, delivering, and sustaining systems for the most advanced aircraft in the world to dominate the future EW battlespace. 

ARLINGTON, Va. — Despite rapid advances in artificial intelligence (AI), including the recent defeat of a  human fighter pilot in a virtual dogfight, AI won’t replace combat pilots, but team up with them in the future, a top U.S. Defense Department research and engineering official says.

An AI algorithm developed by Heron Systems, operating an F-16 simulator defeated an experienced F-16 fighter pilot in all five rounds of virtual air combat Aug. 20. The Alpha Dogfight Trials were the culmination of a year-long competition originally involving eight teams, as part of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Air Combat Evolution program.

“I don’t see human fighter pilots being phased out. I see their effectiveness being enhanced by cooperation with artificial intelligence systems,” Dr. Mark J. Lewis, the Acting Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering, DUSD(R&E), said Sept. 10 at the virtual Defense News Conference.

While the simulation’s conditions were not a completely realistic version of aerial combat — the Heron system did maneuvers and took shots no human pilot would – its 5-0 score in five matches was an impressive step in research on automation in air combat and developing trust in AI systems.

 “The key takeaway was the artificial intelligence system did so well because it wasn’t so concerned about self-preservation.  It was willing to do things that a human pilot wouldn’t do and that’s the advantage of artificial intelligence,” said Lewis, who as acting deputy undersecretary oversees DARPA activities. “And so, I think the real answer is teaming AI with the human for the combination of both. I’m pretty confident we’re going to have human pilots into the future,” said Lewis, who is also Director of Defense Research and Engineering for Modernization.  

A day earlier, at the opening of the Pentagon’s Artificial Intelligence Symposium, Defense Secretary Mark Esper said the AI-controlled competitor’s victories was “an example of the tectonic impact of machine learning on the future of warfighting.” Esper said DARPA’s simulations will continue in a “real-world competition” with full-scale tactical aircraft operated by human pilots versus AI in 2024.

Rather than replacing humans, “we see AI as a tool to free up resources, time, and manpower so our people can focus on higher priority tasks, and arrive at the decision point, whether in a lab or on the battlefield, faster and more precise than the competition,” Esper said.

Acting DARPA Director Dr. Peter Highnam sounded a similar note Sept. 9, at the Unmanned Systems Defense, Protection, Security virtual conference hosted by the Association of Unmanned Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI).  The agency’s original vision for AI, he said, was “to turn a room full of metal teletypes, spinning tapes and computers into that wingman, that trusted partner.” 

ARLINGTON, Va. — Defense Secretary Mark T. Esper has announced that the president has made two flag officer nominations: 

Navy Vice Adm. Lisa M. Franchetti for reappointment to the grade of vice admiral with assignment as director for strategy, plans, and policy, J-5, Joint Staff; and senior member, United States Delegation to the United Nations Military Staff Committee, Pentagon, Washington, District of Columbia.  Franchetti is currently serving as deputy chief of naval operations for Warfighting Development, N-7, Office of the Chief of Naval Operations, Washington, District of Columbia.   

Marine Corps Maj. Gen. Patrick M. Shanahan for appointment to the grade of lieutenant general with assignment as director, Joint Artificial Intelligence Center.  Shanahan is currently serving as deputy chief of computer network operations, National Security Agency, Fort Meade, Maryland.    

SAN DIEGO — The crew of the Coast Guard Cutter Bertholf (WMSL-750) offloaded more than 26,000 pounds of seized cocaine and marijuana in San Diego, Sept. 10, the Coast Guard 11th District said in a release. 

The drugs, worth an estimated $390 million, were seized in international waters of the Eastern Pacific Ocean. They represent 13 suspected drug smuggling vessel interdictions off the coasts of Mexico, Central and South America between late May and late August by the following Coast Guard and Navy ships: 

• The Coast Guard Cutter Bertholf (WMSL-750) crew was responsible for two interdictions seizing approximately 6,700 pounds of cocaine. 
• The Coast Guard Cutter Stratton (WMSL-752) crew was responsible for three interdictions seizing approximately 6,000 pounds of cocaine. 
• The Coast Guard Cutter Confidence (WMEC-619) crew was responsible for two interdictions seizing approximately 50 pounds of cocaine. 
• The Coast Guard Cutter Decisive (WMEC-629) crew was responsible for one interdiction seizing approximately 1,900 pounds of cocaine. 
• The Coast Guard Cutter Venturous (WMEC-625) crew was responsible for one interdiction seizing approximately 1,100 pounds of cocaine. 
• The Coast Guard Cutter Tampa (WMEC-902) crew was responsible for two interdictions seizing approximately 1,600 pounds of cocaine and 3,650 pounds of marijuana. 
• The USS Kidd (DDG-100) with embarked Coast Guard Law Enforcement Detachment (LEDET) was responsible for one interdiction seizing approximately 500 pounds of cocaine. 
• The USS Preble (DDG-88) with embarked Coast Guard Law Enforcement Detachment (LEDET) was responsible for one interdiction seizing approximately 4,400 pounds of cocaine. 

Speakers at the Bertholf drug-offloading event included Director Jim Carroll, Office of National Drug Control Policy, Mr. Robert Brewer, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of California, Adm. Karl Schultz, commandant of the United States Coast Guard, and Capt. Brian Anderson, Coast Guard Cutter Bertholf commanding officer. 

The offload from the Bertholf follows the August 27, 2020, offload of more than 11,500 pounds of seized suspected cocaine and 17,000 pounds of marijuana from the Coast Guard Cutter Hamilton (WMSL-753) in Port Everglades representing 10 interdictions in the same region. So far in fiscal year 2020, the Coast Guard has made more than 171 interdictions, seized more than 282,000 pounds of cocaine, 57,000 pounds of marijuana, and detained more than 391 suspected smugglers in drug transit zones of the Eastern Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea. 

“I’m extremely proud of the hard work and dedication displayed by the men and women of the Coast Guard Cutter Bertholf, especially in this current environment,” said Anderson. “The crew adapted and implemented new protocols in response to the added risk of COVID-19 exposure in the course of operations. They remained focused on what they needed to do to keep each other safe and effectively accomplish the mission of keeping these drugs off our streets, which will save countless lives.” 

On April 1, U.S. Southern Command began enhanced counter-narcotics operations in the Western Hemisphere to disrupt the flow of drugs in support of Presidential National Security Objectives. Numerous U.S. agencies from the Departments of Defense, Justice, and Homeland Security cooperated in the effort to combat transnational organized crime. The Coast Guard, Navy, Customs and Border Protection, FBI, Drug Enforcement Administration, and Immigration and Customs Enforcement, along with allied and international partner agencies, play a role in counter-drug operations.  

“The routine during this patrol was different than most, but the U.S. Coast Guard rose to the challenge, as they always do,” said Carroll. “These efforts by our U.S. Coast Guard and United States Navy are critical to reducing the availability of illicit drugs in our country. They are absolutely committed to saving lives, and their work that you see here today will result in lives being saved across the United States.” 

The fight against drug cartels in the Eastern Pacific Ocean requires unity of effort in all phases from detection, monitoring and interdictions, to criminal prosecutions by international partners and U.S. Attorneys’ Offices in districts across the nation. The law enforcement phase of counter-smuggling operations in the Eastern Pacific Ocean is conducted under the authority of the 11th Coast Guard District, headquartered in Alameda. The interdictions, including the actual boardings, are led and conducted by members of the U.S. Coast Guard. 

“These results are unity of effort in action,” said Shultz. “Whole of Government, whole of partnerships, this is what it takes to keep illicit drugs off American streets. We take these drugs down at sea, where they’re most vulnerable, where they’re most susceptible to intercept. In doing that, we break the cycle of those drugs landing in Costa Rica, Panama and Mexico and triggering violence and corruption. That’s why this matters.” 

The Bertholf is a 418-foot national security cutter, commissioned in 2008 and homeported in Alameda. 

MOBILE, Ala. – Austal USA has completed the purchase of waterfront land, buildings, and an existing dry dock along the Mobile River previously owned by World Marine of Alabama, an indirect subsidiary of Modern American Recycling and Repair Services (M.A.R.R.S.) of Alabama, Austal said in a Sept. 11 release. The purchase enhances the company’s new construction and service business lines. 

“As we’ve consistently done over the course of our history, we’re adding capability to meet the growing demand from our customers” Austal USA President Craig Perciavalle said. “Our business remains focused on continuing to manufacture highly capable and cost-effective ships while providing world-class global services and support to our customers.” 

The purchase includes the 20,000 ton ‘Pete B’ Panamax-class floating dry dock, 100,000 square feet of covered repair facilities, and 15 acres of waterfront property along the Mobile River and Gulf of Mexico. The move places Austal USA adjacent to M.A.R.R.S. and enables better collaboration with the company on its core recycling efforts. 

The acquisition further increases Austal USA’s growing steel and aluminum business portfolio that includes U.S. Navy multi-ship contracts for the Independence-variant Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) and the Expeditionary Fast Transport (EPF), research and development on unmanned and autonomous surface vessels, and an expanding global services business in San Diego and Singapore. 

Austal USA has delivered 22 new-construction ships since 2012 including 11 EPFs and 11 trimaran LCS. Multiple EPF and LCS have deployed around the world with Austal USA providing valuable support to those deployments wherever and whenever needed. 

Could the solution for achieving truly sustainable shipping be blowing in the wind, literally?

The Oceanbird, an automobile-carrying cargo ship, may soon be sailing to a port near you on a stiff breeze. Swedish shipping company Wallenius Marine leading a study of wind-powered ships, along with a Swedish consortium of the KTH Centre for Naval Architecture, and maritime tech developer SSPA, with funding from the Swedish Transport Administration, with a goal of designing Wind Powered Car Carrier (WPCC) by 2021.

Oceanbird features vertical metal or composite wings to harness wind energy for propulsion. They will be raised and lowered telescopically and will be fully rotational. The ship will have diesel engines for entering and leaving port, and to augment the sails to maintain schedules. Wind-powered car carriers will generate less speed than today’s conventionally-powered ships, and will take about 12 days to cross the Atlantic instead of the usual seven or eight. The tradeoff is a vastly reduced fuel costs and emissions. The WPCC will carry 7,000 automobiles.

“We’ve been working on this for several years,” said Carl-Johan Söder, a naval architect with Wallenius Marine during a webinar today (September 10, 2020).  “Today we’re introducing design 3.0.”

Approximately 450 large car transporters currently carry vehicles across the oceans between continents, each using about 40 tons of fossil fuel per day. According to the International Maritime Organization (IMO), the maritime transport industry has established a goal of reducing overall carbon emissions by half by 2050. The WPCC team is aiming even higher.

“We are going much further and aiming for a reduction of 80-90 percent,” said Prof. Jakob Kuttenkeuler of the KTH Centre of Naval Architecture in Stockholm.  “This entails a paradigm shift as today’s ships travel far too fast and with high fuel consumption. We are developing the world’s first emission free shipping concept in modern times.”

Kuttenkeuler said the design is a blend of aerospace and marine engineering. “The rigging should be aerodynamically optimized, robust, light and cheap to manufacture. It can be likened to designing sailing mechanics for an airplane that is going to be tossed about at sea.”

The Swedish Transport Administration provided US$3.01 million to the consortium for the WPCC research project. KTH was commissioned to provide aerodynamic and sailing mechanics expertise including calculations of performance and route optimization. SSPA will perform water hydrodynamic modelling and testing to validate concepts and designs. 

A 1:25 scale model of the WPCC is being evaluated at SSPA in Gothenburg, Sweden. 

“We have done extensive computer simulations. Now we need to confirm these simulations with the experiments to get more accurate numbers of the performance and the forces acting on the ship,” said Sofia Werner, Manager Strategic Research Hydrodynamics at SSPA.

Students at KTH developed a seven-meter model to conduct” sea trials” at Viggbyholm, north of Stockholm.

“Putting it in water the first time helps a lot afterwards. Now we know more precisely how the boat will behave and we can calculate how to make it stable,” says Ulysse Dhomé, Project Supervisor at KTH.

Per Tunell, COO, Wallenius Marine said the Wind Powered Car Carrier project “changes the prerequisites for oceangoing sea transportation.”

The team said the wind concept can be applied to other types of ships in the future.

“The industry faces enormous challenges in terms of sustainability and this type of solution with wind powered ships on the oceans is by far the most interesting solution for achieving truly sustainable shipping,” Tunell said.

The research effort will run until 2023, and the team expects to have a full-size ship soon after.

“I’m absolute sure this will happen,” said Tunnell.  “Definitely.”

ARLINGTON, Va. —The Arctic, already an area of competing maritime, commercial and territorial claims among nations bordering the high latitudes, is also “an ideal site” for the launch of  strategic missiles, say two retired admirals from the United States and the United Kingdom.

“Russia is building ice-capable combatants that can launch cruise missiles,” former U.S. Coast Guard commandant Adm. Paul Zukunft told a livestreamed panel discussion at the 2020 Defense News Conference Sept. 9, adding that those missiles can range as far south as Miami, Florida. The Coast Guard has only two ice breakers and one was recently sidelined by a shipboard fire. The Navy has no vessels with ice-hardened hulls (see  https://old.seapowermagazine.org/u-s-lacks-ice-hardened-ships-repair-and-refueling-ports-for-arctic-ops/)

Retired British Rear Adm. Simon Williams, a former submarine commander and senior Royal Navy and Defence Ministry planner, went even further on the strategic importance of the region at the top of the globe.

“It can be used, because of its location, as a very short missile launching site,” he said. During the Cold War, when Soviet, U.S. and NATO allies’ submarines patrolled beneath Arctic seas, “we spent a huge amount of effort in tracking submarines into the High Arctic.”

While the Cold War is over “the physics don’t change,” he noted. “The reality of the High Arctic is that as a strategic area, it is of great interest for all of us for that very reason. It provides us an ideal site for the strategic launch” and with new missiles in the near future “for tactical launch as well.”

The increasing decline of sea ice in the Arctic has opened potential sea lanes in the summer months, sparking territorial disputes. Russia, Norway, Canada and the United States all have boosted their military presence in the Arctic at a rate not seen for decades. China, calling itself a near-Arctic nation, is eager to use a trans-Arctic route to move its goods and is building its own ice breakers while partnering with Russia on commercial projects in the region.

Russia has opened a new large new base while refitting seven former Soviet bases within the Arctic Circle. Moscow also has modernized its powerful Northern Fleet, increasing submarine activity and building polar icebreakers armed with cruise missiles. In response, the United States has reconstituted the 2nd Fleet, adding the North Pole to its area of responsibility.

Currently the most viable trans-Arctic crossing is the Northern sea route bordering Russia, which considers it sovereign territory. A new Russian agency requires foreign naval ships to give 45 days advance notice before transiting, provide crew manifests and declare their intentions.  The United States sees the northern route as an international waterway, said Zukunft, adding Russia’s demands are complete violation of the freedom of navigation. “Unfortunately, we don’t have reliable ships to challenge Russia on that front,” he said, suggesting working with Canada and other allies to protect U.S. interests.

ARLINGTON, Va. — The Marine Corps plans to deploy armed MQ-9 Reaper unmanned aerial vehicles in the “coming months,” the Navy’s program executive officer for Unmanned and Strike Weapons (PEO-UMW) said. 

“The MQ-9 Reaper provides increased lethality to the Marine Air-Ground Task Force by providing persistent ISR [intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance] and strike capability which the Marine Corps has not previously possessed in an unmanned system,” said Rear Adm. Brian Corey, program executive officer – Unmanned and Strike Weapons, speaking Sept. 9 at the Unmanned Systems Defense, Protection, Security virual conference sponsored by the Association of Unmanned Vehicle Systems International. 

The MQ-9 Reaper is a medium-altitude, long-endurance unmanned aerial vehicle used for surveillance and strike operations. The Reaper is a battle-proven development of the RQ-1 Predator, upgraded for longer endurance, a heavier payload, and the ability to launch heavier precision munitions in a benign aerial environment.  

“Last year, in response to an Urgent Needs Statement from the U.S. Marine Corps, we helped them acquire an MQ-9 Reaper and operated it outside the continental United States in support of forces forward for persistent ISR,” Corey said. “We’ve recently transitioned to add a persistent strike capability which the Marines will operate in the coming months which will give them a capability that they have not had from unmanned systems.” 

The Naval Air Systems Command ordered the two Reapers from General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc. (GA-ASI), of Poway, California, with a $26.9 million firm-fixed-price contract, according to the June 22 Defense Department announcement. The contract also provides for one dual-control mobile ground-control station, one modular data center and one mobile ground-control station  

The Marine Corps selected the Reaper in 2018 to fill an urgent needs request for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) in support of forward operations in Southwest Asia. GA-ASI has provided ISR services since September 2018 through contractor-owned/contractor-operated (COCO) Reapers and their teams to support Marine Corp forces in Afghanistan. Marine UAV squadrons (VMUs) have been learning to operate the Reaper in preparation for the Corps’ procurement of government-owned/government operated MQ-9s. On March 20, 2020, a Marine crew of VMU-1 controlled a COCO Reaper for the first time on an operational mission in support of forward-deployed ground forces.  

Corey said the operation of the MQ-9 will help the Marine Corps learn how to operate a Group 5 UAS and inform its future MUX program.   

ARLINGTON, Va. — The U.S. Navy’s acquisition official for unmanned aerial systems said he is looking for ideas to meet a new requirement that has come down from regional combatant commanders (COCOMs).  

“Now we have a new demand coming from the COCOM for increased range,” said Rear Adm. Brian Corey, program executive officer – Unmanned and Strike Weapons, speaking Sept. 9 at the Unmanned Systems Defense, Protection, Security virtual conference sponsored by the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International. 

“There’s currently no product line that industry has designed that meets our requirements,” Corey said. “This is where we need industry’s innovative thinking to help us deliver this increased capability in the future and to do it quickly.” 

Corey gave no additional details, but range has become a more precious characteristic in an era of great power competition, when standoff at greater ranges has become more crucial for forces in view of more sophisticated Chinese, Russian and Iranian weaponry. 

ARLINGTON, Va. — The Navy is planning a series of upgrades to the Boeing Insitu-built RQ-21A Blackjack unmanned aerial system, an acquisition official said.  

“We’re continuing to look at upgrades for the system,” said Rear Adm. Brian Corey, program executive officer – Unmanned and Strike Weapons, speaking Sept. 9 at the Unmanned Systems Defense, Protection, Security virtual conference sponsored by the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International. “Some of our future initiatives include beyond-line-of-sight capability; a vertical-takeoff-and-landing kit; a bandwidth-efficient common data link, and a portable ground-control station.” 

The Blackjack, built by Boeing’s Insitu, is a twin-boom, single-engine, small tactical unmanned aerial vehicle that carries modular payloads mostly for surveillance. It is pneumatically launched and is recovered using a skyhook arrestment system. A single Blackjack system includes five UAVs, two ground control stations, various payloads and a set of launch and recovery systems. 

The fielding of the RQ-21A Blackjack unmanned aerial system achieved full operational capability in 2019. All 21 systems for the Marine Corps and 10 for the Navy have been delivered to fleet and training units.  

The Blackjack now equips four Marine UAV squadrons plus a fleet replacement detachment. The Marine Corps deploys the Blackjack with its Marine expeditionary units onboard amphibious warfare ships. The 10 systems for the Navy have been delivered to Navy Special Warfare Command and made two deployments in 2019. 

 “The RQ-21 has flown over 14,000 hours and has seen some of the highest readiness rates in all of naval aviation,” Corey said.